In conventional drilling and completion of a well, cement is pumped into an annulus between a wellbore casing and the subterranean surface. Once the cement is sufficiently set, the cement can support and protect the casing from exterior corrosion and pressure changes.
A reciprocating or positive displacement pump is typically used for cementing and wellbore treatments and has three or five reciprocating element. The reciprocating pump includes a power end and fluid end section. The power end of the pump includes a housing having a crankshaft mounted therein. A connecting rod is connected to the crankshaft. The connecting rod includes a crankshaft end and a crosshead end. The crosshead end of the connecting rod is located in a cylinder and connected to a crosshead to reciprocatingly drive a plunger into the fluid end section.
The plunger typically extends through a wall of the power end section and into a wall of a manifold or fluid end section. A fluid seal contained within the fluid end section surrounds the plunger to prevent or limit fluid leakage into the power end housing. A power end seal contained within the power end section also surrounds the plunger at or near an opposed end of the plunger to prevent or limit fluid contamination into the power end section.
Reciprocating pumps can be mounted on a trailer or a skid in a back-to-back configuration. The overall width of the pumps, when configured in the back-to-back configuration, cannot exceed roadway requirements. For example, for travel on roads in the United States, the pumps cannot extend laterally across the trailer in a back-to-back configuration that is longer than 102 inches. Thus, in order to meet these width requirements, pumps have been designed with reduced sizes (i.e., the pumps are shortened, mounted closer together, designed with shorter stroke lengths, etc.), which oftentimes results in damage to the power end seal and contamination of the power end housing. For example, due to the shortened length of the pumps, fluid proppant oftentimes propagates along the plunger from the fluid end housing and contacts the power end seal, thereby damaging the power end seal and eventually contaminating the power end housing. Furthermore, such plungers and associated mounting component are susceptible to fatigue failure and/or high bending moments, which decreases the reliability of such pump assemblies. Thus, there is a need to for a pump design that can be mounted in a back-to-back configuration on a truck or skid type configuration in compliance with roadway requirements while also preventing and/or substantially eliminating damage to the power end seal, the plunger and the associated mounting components.